This application makes reference to, incorporates the same herein, and claims all benefits accruing under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119 from my application INK TANK FOR INK-JET PRINTER filed with the Korean Industrial Property Office on Dec. 29, 1999 and there duly assigned Ser. No. 1999/64469.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink tank for an ink jet printer, and more particularly, to an ink tank capable of preventing evaporation of moisture from ink stored in the ink tank and preventing leaking of ink, by installing a separate air flow member within the ink tank and by providing a sealing means for automatically opening/closing an air inflow hole of the ink tank according to movement of the ink tank.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an ink tank for an ink jet printer, for storing ink for use in printing, is housed in a carrier provided within the printer, and supplies ink while moving according to the movement of the carrier during the printing mode. However, ink jet printers suffers from two problems. First, the pressure inside the ink tank is equal to the atmospheric pressure outside the tank, causing ink to leak out about the nozzle. Second, the air inflow valve may be open during operation of an ink-jet printer and also when the ink jet printer is not operating. This causes the ink inside the ink tank to dry up.
What is needed is an improved ink jet printer that 1) reduces the pressure inside the ink tank below atmospheric pressure, and 2) a mechanism for sealing the air inflow hole when the ink jet printer is not being used, to prevent the ink inside the ink tank from drying up.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved ink jet printer.
It is yet another object to provide an ink jet printer that automatically seals up the air inflow hole when the ink jet printer is not in use, preventing ink from drying up in the ink tank.
It is still yet another object to provide an ink jet printer where the pressure inside the ink tank is below atmospheric pressure to prevent ink from leaking from the ink tank and from the nozzles.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an ink tank which can prevent evaporation of moisture contained in ink stored in the ink tank, by providing a sealing means for automatically opening/closing an air inflow hole of the ink tank according to movement of the ink tank, such that the air inflow hole is opened in a printing mode to discharge ink and the air inflow hole is closed in a printing standby mode to prevent the ink tank from being exposed to the atmosphere.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an ink tank which can prevent a leaking, by installing an air flow member within the ink tank and by mounting a nozzle at one end of the air flow member, so that the internal pressure of the ink tank is adjusted to be smaller than the atmospheric pressure.
Accordingly, to prevent evaporation of moisture from the ink tank, there is provided an ink tank for an ink jet printer including a tank body, a sponge disposed in the tank body, for absorbing and storing ink, an air flow member positioned above the sponge, for guiding air outside the ink tank to into the ink tank, a nozzle coupled to one end of the air flow member, for supplying air outside the ink tank to the ink tank, and an air flow hole formed at one side of the tank body connected to the other end of the air flow member. The air flow hole is opened and closed by a sealing means installed on a printer frame according to movement of the carrier and the ink tank. The sealing means preferably includes a sealing ball being in contact with the air flow hole and a spring for elastically supporting the sealing ball, and is installed perpendicular or parallel to the movement direction of the ink tank, thereby opening the air inflow hole in the printing mode and closing the air inflow hole in the printing standby mode. The air flow member may be a hose made of a material that does not chemically react with ink, and is preferably spirally wound around a shaft ranging from one end connected with the nozzle to the other end connected to the air inflow hole.
To prevent leaking, the air flow member is connected to a nozzle that has a diminishing internal diameter appropriate for lowering the internal pressure of the ink tank below atmospheric pressure.